California quail, also known as valley quail. Photo by Chuck Robbins.

These days, not many of us have the luxury of hunting out the back door. Each fall, road trips are a way of life, to the tune of several thousand miles.

When I hit the upland bird trail, my foremost goal is a mixed bag. Bad weather you can't do much about. But bad planning is preventable and, to my way of thinking, downright foolish to boot.

THE FIVE TOP STOPS
Great bird-hunting destinations exist all across the region. In fact, it's the rare spot that doesn't offer something of merit. But things do change: Where and what was hot last season may not be so this time around.

Check things out first, and then hit the road. Remaining flexible lets you tweak your itinerary at the last minute.

1. Montana Prairie Mixed Bag
Draw a line from Great Falls north to Sweetgrass on the Canada border, then east to the North Dakota line, south to Wibaux and back again to Great Falls. You will have enclosed what I believe is the best mixed-bag hunting the Rockies have to offer.

To be sure, it's a vast chunk of real estate. But each October, we hitch up the travel trailer -- our Bird Huntin' House -- hang out the "Gone Huntin' " sign, load the dog and hit the road. We're bird bums, for want of a better term, in search of wild birds: Roosters, sage hens, Huns and sharpies abound. But perhaps best of all is the access.

Across the West, locked gates propagate at alarming rates, thanks to National Wildlife Refuges and Waterfowl Production Areas. But at state-owned Wildlife Management Areas and Montana's Block Management Program (nearly 9 million acres enrolled last season), hunters have free access to large parcels of productive public and private upland bird cover.

For a modest fee, there is also the sprawling Fort Peck Indian Reservation in the northeast.

Timing is everything. To get the most in mixed-bag hunting, we time our trip to overlap the pheasant opener first Saturday in October.

Here's my theory: Since sage and sharp-tailed grouse and Hungarian partridge seasons open Sept. 1, come October all but the most avid hunters are likely to be planning their next excursion to coincide with the exceedingly popular pheasant opener. With most Montana bird hunters, pheasant is king; all other species are taken more or less incidentally.

Many hunters I know get in a few grouse and partridge licks early, then put away their fowling pieces, anxiously awaiting our version of the Glorious 12th to roll around.

Each fall, a week or 10 days prior to the madness, we head north of the Hi-Line (U.S. 2) to set up a comfortable camp and enjoy what usually amounts to hunting a huge private preserve. Sitting in the midst of what also amounts to endless bird cover, and with virtually no competition, we enjoy several days of some of the finest mixed-bag wingshooting available to John Q. Public anywhere.

While there are plenty of public lands up there, most is private, so be sure to pack along current Block Management info. There's a ton of land available, but to take full advantage of it all, you'll need the maps and contact information.

Keep in mind that sage hens and sagebrush are inseparable: No sage, no sage hens. Huns and sharpies also frequent sage, but more hang out in and around grass, and grain-mature CRP is often primo. Early pheasants and CRP go hand in hand also.

Ripe alfalfa and sugar beet fields are early hotspots as well. Later on, as the season progresses, look for dense cover near water -- the gnarlier and wetter, the better.

Seasons and bag limits vary: For Hungarian partridge, eight daily, 32 in possession; and for sharp-tailed grouse, four daily, 16 in possession.

Season dates are Sept. 1 through Jan. 1. For sage grouse, it's four daily, eight in possession. The season is Sept. 1 through Nov. 1.

For pheasants, three cocks daily, nine in possession. The season is Oct. 7 through Jan. 1.

Non-resident license fee is $110, plus a $10 conservation stamp.